Theoretically, anyway. My computer has this annoying habit where it takes literally five minutes before it recognizes that, yes, I actually DO have a connection to working internet. This, on the best of days. As in, even when my computer doesn't have lag, it still has that issue.
This has always been the case for my computer. Even on other connections, albeit not as much. Connecting to, say, the college's internet took me some amount of time, but it was usually through some complicated problem on the college's end: their internet not always being available, their process not always working, things that applied to both my laptops at the time.
It also happens with other internet sources, where the speeds are what you'd expect of an internet connection about 11 years ago: not quite dial-up, but not significantly better. This would last for minutes before the laptop would finally pick up speed.
But it's most egregious here at home. At those other places, I'd expect the interference. Public networks are always going to be wired in that sort of way. But at home, it shouldn't take as long. Yet it does.
I can't speak for internet speed these days, since I haven't tried using it recently, but I think it's better. (Of course, I'm about to run an immunization, so that will slow my computer down, meaning I won't be able to tell right now, either.)
This is why I generally prefer the desktop. Though, I do need the laptop still. For a start, I do my blogging on it (which is why you're getting an entry today), and also all my writing (I have my notes compilation on here, making it most convenient), not to mention, Red Hood Rider.
(Most of my The Descended stuff was on my old laptop, which is dead. It might theoretically be able to be salvaged, but I haven't tried.)
But for most every-day stuff, my desktop is vastly superior to my laptop, which is a few years old now and cluttered with a ton of stuff. (I think it's at least three years old, and I don't think it was brand new when we bought it. That might not seem like it's old, but given how much stuff I've used it for, wear and tear on it means that it's most likely on the second half of its natural lifespan. Desktops can last for years upon years, sure, but laptops--while theoretically being able to last just as long--in practice tend to have a shelf life of a few years.)
I mean...doing a google search on how long they last, apparently my intuition on this isn't too far off: 6 years is the estimation, with 3 years usually being the replacement; a computer running slowly probably has some behavioral issues, so to speak, and is getting a little senile.
There ARE four main culprits, and admittedly all of them are possible. A virus of some sort isn't impossible to still be on my computer. I know there was one almost a week ago, after all (my fault there), and there's no guarantee I got rid of it, but my computer was slow even before that and it's not impossible there was a virus even then that I was not aware of thanks to invisibility.
A failing disc drive is also possible, since the hardware DOES get stressed with continuous usage. And, while I use it far less now than I used to, there are still some heavy-usage periods (spending hours on the internet, playing games, etc.), and those earlier times where I WAS using the computer basically continuously all day had to have left their mark.
Not enough memory to support all the added programs is also a potential cause. I have a LOT of stuff on my computer. A lot of installed games (Majesty, Age of Empires II and III, Starcraft, Civilization III, maybe one or two others), every discover and download song (speaking of which, I need to get this week's) for the last two years or so (not quite every D+D song ever, but the vast majority of them), art reference images, art programs, notepad files, Word files, schoolwork files, you get the idea, it adds up fairly quickly.
I mean, with Firefox open and nothing else (unless you count Task Manager, or having the music files shown and my art files shown in two windows, which should be basically nil resource-wise), I get 50% memory usage right now (better than 70, which is what it has been at times), and my CPU is averaging 80%. (Admittedly, that's because of some Windows Service host process, which I never have quite been able to figure out what it is. I've kind-of assumed it's automatic updates being downloaded, but I don't actually know for sure.) That's not terrible, but it's not great, either.
And I'd honestly be surprised if there weren't corrupted/poorly-behaving programs on my computer. Many antivirus programs warn of such inefficiencies, after all, mine included, but unfortunately, none offer to clean it up for free, as far as I can tell. I'm sure something for free would exist, but I don't think I'd be able to track it down, or even if I was, I'm not sure how much good it would do. (Apparently, it's a few gigs worth of data that could be cleaned, if I remember correctly, but not too terribly much considering that my computer I BELIEVE has 500 gigs.)
So basically, for a computer-illiterate person such as myself (well, that's not quite true, I'm not an absolute idiot; I know more about computers than about half of my family does, but I'm certainly no expert and my knowledge is based mostly off of second-hand things along with intuition and experience, not actually hard-informed facts), I am happy with what my laptop has given me.
I should probably start actually backing my files up as much as I can, given this information. (I regretted not finishing the process for my old laptop, after all, even though I DID back up a fair amount of it, somewhere.) But while I will certainly be sad when my computer does finally die, and lament the loss of files I either didn't or couldn't save, in a way, I see my laptop as every bit alive as a pet would be, treating them with the same level of affection and intimacy. I love my computer. I will talk to my computer, mostly sweetly, but occasionally scolding it when it misbehaves.
To me, it is well and truly alive. But like a pet, it will not have the same lifespan that I do, eventually growing old, exhausted, tired, broken bit by bit, and sputter out and die from whatever various source deals the final blow. So I'll be sad. I'll lament the loss of my fond companion. I will remember it, I will treasure it, but I'd move on, having a new computer take its place.
It's the cycle of life, just electronically rather than physically. (For the record: this exact same process also applies to cars. I treat most inanimate objects with some degree of respect, but objects I come to have affection for on a significant level become even more particularly special. Cars, laptops, to a lesser extent, blankets, pillows, watches, water bottles, flashdrives, even mechanical pencils and erasers. They might not fit our description of life, but they still HAVE their own kind of life, being created, existing through their usage, being worn down with time and age, and eventually having a 'death' when they have some failure of some kind from the decay they suffer.)
Basically, can't really ask for more than what I've been given, so I'm happy with what I have.